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Pandora Media’s down 7.7% this afternoon after CNET reported that Apple is “close” to enlisting Universal Music and Warner Music for an iTunes-linked streaming service. Apple would make it easy for users to buy songs that they like, and would share as much as 45% of the revenue from the ads it sells on the service. That appeals to the music companies even though they’d collect less for each stream than they do from Pandora. Apple wants to strike licensing deals with Sony Music, music publishers and others in time to introduce the service this summer in the U.S. as well as the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and Japan. Last month Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy startled investors by announcing that after a decade at the helm he plans to leave the company after it picks a successor. The stock is up 39% so far this year.
Pandora Shares Fall On Report That Apple Nears Streaming Music Deals
Global Showbiz Briefs: India’s ‘24’, ITV Shifts Mike Blair, iTunes Prices In Oz, Plus JFK & Afghan Docs
Clock To Start Ticking For Indian ’24′
Slumdog Millionaire star Anil Kapoor is getting to work on the Indian version of the TV series 24. The actor, who was featured in the final season of Fox/20th TV’s real-time drama, will produce via his Anil Kapoor Film Co. He’ll also play the Jack Bauer character, now reportedly named Jai Singh Rathod, in the local take. According to BollywoodLife, production was due to kick off this week at Kapoor’s Stage 21 studio near Mumbai. Delhi Belly director Abhinay Deo is helming the series and Rensil D’Silva, who’s directing Sanjay Dutt’s Ungli, is scripting. The local broadcast partner is Viacom-owned Colors. Kapoor will next be seen on the big screen in Shootout At Wadala directed by Sanjay Gupta.
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Banned ‘Sex.Violence’ Film Lands U.S. Deal
Controversial Singaporean film Sex.Violence.FamilyValues has just been banned in Malaysia but the producers have sold the 47-minute pastiche of three comedies to a U.S. distributor and are close to finalizing a deal with iTunes. Writer-director Ken Kwek’s English-language … Read More »
Amazon Fires On Apple By Offering Music For iPhone And iPod Touch
Apple dominates digital music sales, with nearly 70% of the market, while Amazon is far behind at about 12%, NPD Group reported last year. So it’s easy to see why Amazon is so eager to pry consumers from … Read More »
DreamWorks Puts ‘Lincoln’ Special On iTunes
DreamWorks, which rousted former President Bill Clinton to introduce the Steven Spielberg-directed Lincoln at Sunday’s Golden Globes, continues to pull out the stops to get the movie noticed in Oscar season. Today, they’ve released a behind-the-scenes special entitled … Read More »
Apple To Offer Three ‘Downton Abbey’ Episodes On iTunes Ahead Of PBS Broadcast
At a TCA panel yesterday, PBS president Paula Kerger said, “We’re not punishing our viewers.” The comment was made with regard to the lag time between when Downton Abbey airs on the UK’s ITV and in the U.S. on PBS. Well, here’s good news for folks who can’t get enough fast enough of the Crawley clan – and for those trying to avoid the spoilers that have been whizzing around the Web. Apple said yesterday that North American subscribers to iTunes who purchase a season pass for the show will get a jump on the last three episodes of season three before they air on PBS. The episodes, including the special season finale which airs on February 17, will be available for download on iTunes beginning January 29. The period drama’s second season was the best-selling TV series on iTunes last year and the exclusive season three Downton preview is said to be a first for the company. Read More »
‘Bachelorette’ Becomes An iTunes Hit
Here is why I think these Radius-TWC heads Tom Quinn and Jason Janego will be interesting to watch as they get untracked heading Harvey Weinstein’s multi-platform releasing company. They’ve done a pre-theatrical release of their Sundance acquisition Bachelorette and it has hit #1 on the … Read More »
Amazon Beefs Up Streamed Music Service Following Deals With Record Companies
The e-retailer says it has agreements with just about every major music provider — including Sony, EMI, Universal, and Warner — giving it the right to offer streamed versions of songs found on a customer’s hard drive. … Read More »
Home Video Spending Up 2.5% In Q1 To $4.45B; Subscription Streaming Soars
The data out today from DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group may suggest that the period of steep declines in home video spending — largely driven by the collapse of the DVD market — is over. But it also … Read More »
Can Spotify Become The iTunes Of Streaming Media?
Even if you don’t have Spotify on your computer or smartphone screen, you should put it on your radar. Music execs tell me that the streaming service, introduced in the U.S. last July, is beginning to break from the pack of digital music providers which includes Pandora, Rdio, Rhapsody, MOG, and Slacker. ”The big question is whether it will become the iTunes of the streaming media market,” one tells me. Credit Suisse’s John Blackledge took note of Spotify yesterday in a 63-page report initiating coverage of Pandora Media, which offers a radio-like streamed service. “There is a lot of discussion and buzz around Spotify,” he says noting that it is “looking to siphon market share” from some of the giant sellers of downloaded music including iTunes and Amazon. Spotify has about 10M active users worldwide. (The company won’t break out the figures by country.) The vast majority use its ad-supported, free service which — in the U.S. – offers unlimited access to its library of more than 16M songs including tunes from all four major recorded music companies: Universal, Sony, Warner, and EMI. (No Beatles, though; iTunes has exclusive online rights to the group’s catalog.) The company’s goal, though, is to nudge users into paying for a subscription. About 3M people pay either $4.99 a month (for unlimited, ad-free streams to computers) or $9.99 (for unlimited, ad-free streams to mobile and digital devices as well as computers, and the ability to download songs for off-line listening). Users can listen to specific songs on demand, or let the service create playlists based on a particular performer or other criteria. While other companies offer similar services, execs say that Spotfy one of the easiest to use — and integrates well with Facebook, where users can share songs, playlists and recommendations. Indeed, only Facebook members now can sign up for Spotify. Read More »
iTunes Hires Indie Film Whiz Matt Dentler
Matt Dentler, head of content at Cinetic Rights Management-FilmBuff is headed to iTunes where he will be the Indie Film Partner Manager. He will relocate from New York to Los Angeles where he’ll take up the position beginning … Read More »
Steven Spielberg & Oren Peli’s ‘The River’ To Debut On U.K. iTunes One Day After U.S.
Steven Spielberg/Oren Peli thriller series collaboration The River makes its U.S. debut on February 7 on ABC. In a first for producer ABC Studios, the shows will then be available via iTunes in the U.K. 24 hours later. There is currently no U.K. broadcaster deal for The River, although an announcement is expected soon. Meanwhile, U.K. iTunes customers can watch the series on a one-day delay during its entire run. Experiments like this are partly a means to deter piracy and are proving more frequent (they’re also welcome for frustrated fans in Europe). In 2010, for example, ITV made Vampire Diaries available on iTunes in the U.K. before it started airing the popular show. In France, leading broadcaster TF1 makes episodes of shows like House available via its own VOD service on a 24-hour delay from the U.S. TF1 also airs the series on TV at a one-season delay and the show remains a ratings powerhouse. In the U.S., Fox last Read More »
‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Trailer: 12.5 Million iTunes Downloads In 24 Hours
BURBANK, CA, December 23, 2011 – The new trailer for Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ The Dark Knight Rises smashed the record for most combined downloads through the iTunes Movie Trailers site (www.itunes.com/ trailers) and the iTunes
Free ‘Pan Am’ Episodes Land At ITunes
ABC’s 1960s drama Pan Am is taking to the web in an effort to keep interest alive in the freshman drama, whose fate for a season renewal has yet to be decided. Show producer Sony Pictures TV is offering up … Read More »
Apple And Google Prepare To Take Digital Music War To The Cloud
Apple made a major improvement to its digital music service today as it introduced iTunes Match. For $24.99 a year, iTunes will scan a user’s mobile gadget or hard drive, identify its recordings — including those copied from a … Read More »
Apple’s iTunes Ends Its TV Show Rentals
Neither the TV networks nor consumers are likely to complain after Apple today dropped the option of renting network TV show episodes. Apple had to fight hard to get the networks on board with the concept last year, but consumers proved cool to … Read More »
Will VUDU’s iPad Gateway Help Walmart To Outflank iTunes?
Walmart is about to fire a warning shot at Apple’s iTunes: The retail colossus will introduce on Wednesday a way for iPad users to access VUDU’s Web site to buy or rent videos and view them on the tablet. ”We’re … Read More »
Sundance Institute Expands Film Output Via Online Platforms
Filmmakers at the Sundance Film Festival who don’t land a distribution deal don’t have to leave empty-handed: The Sundance Institute unveiled today an Artist Services program that will enable directors to show their movies on iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, SundanceNOW and YouTube. They can charge viewers if they want, and don’t have to sacrifice their ownership rights. The Institute will help with marketing and promotion, and has a new deal with Topspin Media to provide direct marketing tools and retail fulfillment services. The program kicks off with two films from the 2011 festival: the documentary Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death & Technology directed by Tiffany Shlain, and a narrative film On the Ice directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean. Sundance says that filmmakers of Jess + Moss, Lord Byron, New Low, Obselidia, The Oregonian, Space Tourists, and The Woods plan to take advantage of the initiative. Read More »
More Films Put On iTunes For SAG Voters
UPDATE: Paramount press release for The Fighter on iTunes below. Right below is Focus’ release, issued after Deadline broke the story.
EXCLUSIVE: I’m hearing that Focus Features has made a deal with iTunes that will allow SAG members to view its awards season candidate, The Kids Are All Right … Read More »
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